Page 5 of Lesbian CEO

“When did your dad pass away?”

“Five years ago.”

“Funny.”

“Oh, cancer is never funny,” Hillary says. She smiles, though, and I know she’s got that dark sense of humor so many other people don’t really understand. When it comes to death, sometimes you have to laugh. Otherwise, you really will cry. When my mom and dad passed away on the same damn day, I thought it was the end of my world. Then, when my girlfriend left me, I thought that was the end of the world.

Somehow, though, I kept on living.

I don’t really understand how, but I just kept putting one foot in front of the other and slowly but surely, I made my way forward.

Now I’m here.

And now that I’m here, I’ve started to realize that maybe Jessica didn’t leave me. Maybe she just couldn’t wait around for me to get my act together. Maybe she didn’t know I was grieving because I didn’t tell her. I never really gave her a chance to be supportive, but then I acted hurt when she didn’t support me.

What a twist.

“I’m sorry about your uncle.” Hillary and I have talked about him before. His death was long and drawn out. Painful. It was very much unlike my own father’s passing. One minute, my dad was here. Then he was gone. It was like lightning.

“We don’t have to go there.” I sigh. “Why the fuss about Mortimer?” I think about Jessica Mortimer every damn day, but I try not to. The more I think about her, the more I realize that the two of us never really had a chance. She was a businesswoman with big dreams. I was just a girl whose dad owned his own hardware store. My dad had money, but not in the same way Jessica did. I never cared about her cash, though. I just liked her.

Sometimes when I think about Jessica, I wonder if she remembers me. She doesn’t know that I was going to propose to her on the night my father died. I bought a ring and everything. We were supposed to meet at our favorite restaurant, and I was going to tell her that I wanted to be hers and only hers for all eternity. That was the plan.

Unfortunately for me, life happened.

“Jessica Mortimer doesn’t have a reason to buy that company.” I also didn’t realize she had the money. I wonder if Ashley cut her a deal. She must have.

Hillary presses her lips together tightly.

“What?” What does she know that I don’t? Hillary doesn’t hold back with me, but this is twice now in as many minutes. Something is seriously up.

“Word on the street is that Mortimer plans to buy you out.”

“Why would she want to buy my company? It’s not worth anything to her.” It’s a good company. It’s not a multi-million dollar firm, regardless of what the local news rags like to say. It’s a modest company, but it’s mine. It pays the bills and I turn a good profit, or at least a normal one. I’m not really in the same realm as Northington Tech, though. I’m not even close.

In fact, West Mountain Software and Security is a company that I’m surprised Jessica even remembers existed. It’s something I was launching right at the start of our relationship, and she played an integral role in helping me shift from my mother’s dream of running a software company to my own dream of focusing on cyber security. Hacking is a very real issue, and I want to help companies – especially companies in our area – do better. After my parents died, I sold my dad’s hardware company and used the money to expand my own business. It’s a move that I’m proud of. I didn’t try to hang onto my dad’s dream – I went after my own.

Hillary shrugs. “Maybe it’s worth more than you know.”

“It’s not.”

“Either way, I’d watch my back if I were you.”

“You can’t just buy someone’s company,” I point out. “That’s not really the way that it works.”

“No, but you can put them out of business and scoop up the trash.”

“Hey! Don’t call my company trash.”

She holds up her hands. “I’m not calling it trash,” Hillary says. “I’m just telling you that when you see your mortal enemy making moves that don’t make sense, you need to remember that the world of business is basically one big chess game.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning you need to figure out where she’s forcing you before you’re in check.”

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